


Six Sandbox

by kiarcheo



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe, At the moment, Beheaded Cousins, F/F, Family Fluff, Gen, Good Cousin Anne Boleyn, Ideas Collection, Parrward, and, each chapter stands alone unless otherwise noted, queens as family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:32:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25313878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiarcheo/pseuds/kiarcheo
Summary: Sometimes I have ideas, concepts and headcanons that don't become fully fleshed out fics but that I still want to share.Mostly Queens as family and Parrward at the moment. Pairings will be made clear in the title or notes if you want to skip those chapters.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Katherine Howard, Katherine Howard/Catherine Parr
Comments: 58
Kudos: 139





	1. Queens and Masks

Between Catalina, Anne and Anna paying attention to foreign news and what was happening abroad and a general apprehension towards illnesses and infection, especially since they all remembered the sweating sickness, among other diseases and epidemics, that plagued their times, the queens decide early on the pandemic that they would always wear masks when outside.

As they couldn’t find masks in shops (nor they wanted to go around looking for them) and didn’t want to take any resource from healthcare staff, they decided to make their own using a sheet. Jane offered to make them as she had taken up again needlework as a hobby and Kat came up with the idea to personalise them instead of having a plain white mask. Also so they wouldn’t risk mixing them up with each other’s (even if, given that they live together, if one gets it the others are likely to get it too, Cathy points out). But it was a way to pass time like any other, so they set down to each ‘design’ their mask…only to find out it’s not that easy. Catalina and Anna discover a knack for it so they end up designing them all on the others’ instructions and Jane makes them.

To keep fans engaged the queens keep sharing posts and when they go out they post pics of themselves wearing the masks. Groceries for six people is not a one-person job. And with the shortage is not even a one-shop trip. So they go out in pairs, on different days to different supermarkets, trying to cross-out things from their list.

With fans asking where they can get those masks, they get the idea to make more of them. It has multiple advantages. It will keep everyone busy. It will make some money since the theatres are shut down (and again, they are six). It will help flattening the curve. With six women all with skills in needlework and embroidery it’s not that hard. Jane and Anne do the bulk of the embroidery, recruiting the others as need requires. Catalina and Anna do all the design part, taking ideas and putting them in patterns (sometimes on customers’ request too). Cathy doesn’t really enjoy needlework, so she mostly takes care of the business side. At first they sell via email but then as demand increases Cathy, Anne and Kat study how to set up proper online shop pages. Kat likes to vary tasks so she flits between making the masks with Jane and Anne, and helping Cathy sorting orders, taking pictures of the masks uploading them, as well preparing the packages to be sent.


	2. Quarantine videos with the Queens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As posted on Tumblr, forgive the formatting

As the theatres are closed, they engage with the fans (and keep themselves busy) making video. They made a channel and post each a video weekly, one per day with none on Sunday:

Catherine: cooking tutorials mixed with life coaching advice

Anne: games. Fans send her links to online games and she tries them on live

Jane: arts and craft

Anna: workout from home videos

Kat: dance and music workshops

Cathy: books reviews

They also guest stars in each others’ videos (after all they share the house):

Anna often joins Catherine and Jane does too sometimes. Anne and Kat mostly show up at the end if there is food to eat.

Kat and Anna occasionally play with Anne if more players are needed/allowed

Catherine and Kat sometimes join Jane.

Kat is the only one who is sometimes willing to submit herself to Anna’s workouts.

Anne often joins Kat’s workshops.

Catherine, Anne and Kat all like to discuss books with Cathy, sometimes one-on-one and sometimes all together, sort of like a book club 


	3. Zoom Calls with Cathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As posted on Tumblr, hence the weird format (they were different posts). Hints of Parrward.

Concept: Cathy is working from home during lockdown and has frequent video-calls. She sets up in the living room because it has better wi-fi signal and also because she doesn’t really want her colleagues to see her bedroom. But it opens the door to certain…situations.

Like Anne and Kat showing up in background of her call in animal onesies. Slightly embarrassing, sure, but it’s their house too. And the living room _is_ the central room of the house, leading both to the entrance door, the kitchen, the garden as well as the stairs leading up to the rooms upstairs. And it’s not like they are inconsiderate…

> *stomping noises*
> 
> Kat enters the screen running only to abruptly freeze as she realizes Cathy is on a call. Anne, also running, doesn’t realize she stopped, slams into her back and they both fall forward.

So Cathy knows that when everyone gets distracted during a call, it’s likely because of whatever mayhem the cousins are making in the background.

> Cathy noticing everyone is looking at something behind her. She turns around to see Kat and Anne army crawling on the floor. They wanted to get snacks from the kitchen but knew she was on a video call so they were trying to sneak by unnoticed…

Occasionally they don’t show up but you can hear Aragon yelling, usually at Anne.

Cathy pretends to be put off for appearance sake, but she is endeared…and so are her colleagues. They love them and their antics and insists on saying hello to them every time they appear. As one person told Cathy, it’s like when people apologize for their cats interrupting the calls. Just don’t. Everyone wants to see them. They are the best part of the meetings. Anne finds it hilarious considering that she calls Kat Kitty.

## ft the beheaded cousins’ messed up sleep schedule

> Everyone on the videocall freezing when they hear an unfamiliar yelp (not to Cathy, she immediately knows it’s Catherine) and then ‘Really?’
> 
> ‘What? We were just sleeping and you sat on us!’ a familiar voice accuses.
> 
> ‘Completely covered by a blanket? Even your head?’ Catherine isn’t convinced that it wasn’t a prank.
> 
> ‘The light was annoying, couldn’t fall asleep,’
> 
> ‘You know, you both have a room that is specifically made for sleeping,’
> 
> ‘You know what? That’s exactly what we’re going to do.’ Anne stands up, blanket as a cape. ‘Come on, Kitty.’
> 
> Kat follows her. ‘Good night,’
> 
> ‘It’s 11 in the morning!’ Catherine yells as they go up the stairs.

Alternatively

> Anne and Kat coming down the stairs: “Good morning”
> 
> Anna, off-screen: “it’s 4 in the afternoon” 

## ft hints of Parrward

The calls is on but everyone is taking a break to make tea/coffee/go to the loo.

‘Is that my hoodie?’ Cathy asks as Kat turns around to leave after bringing her a mug.

‘Nope,’

‘You sure? Because there is my name on it,’

‘It’s my name, too,’

Anne, realizing Kat has taken the one with ‘Parr’ on its back instead of the one with ‘Catherine’: ‘Oh my God, you two got married without telling me?? Shame on you!’

The meeting resumes, but not before: ‘You know, you should bring her around next time,’

‘Who? Anne or Kat?’

‘Kat, you know that girlfriends, boyfriends and partners are always invited to company’s parties,’

‘Bring Anne too, she would certainly liven those boring things up,’ another colleague adds.

## Random stuff

Cathy unmuting her microphone and everyone takes a second to listen to someone singing.

‘Are they…singing the Smurfs song in Spanish?’

Cathy mutes her microphone again because she knows it’s just a question of time before Catherine yells at them to stop (the whole point of singing silly songs in Spanish is to annoy her)

———— 

A crash. Cathy turns but doesn’t see anything.

‘Annie, are you okay?’ Kat hurries down the stairs.

‘Yep,’

‘Are you going to get up?’

‘Nope.’

‘Need help?’

‘Yep.’

‘Anna, come and scrap Annie off the floor, please,’ Kat calls.

‘Did she fall off the stairs again?’


	4. Boating Lake

It’s a hot summer day and the queens decide to go to a boating lake…but make it fun with a water guns fight. Rules are simple: three teams of two, one water gun each, the team that at the end is less wet wins (yeah, not the smartest/easiest way to decide, but the point is having fun).

Jane has the foresight to bring an umbrella with her to ‘protect’ her and Anna…but she didn’t realise that while Anna can easily move them along paddling by herself, if Jane is holding the umbrella, it hinders the shooting. And if Anna has the gun, it hinders the paddling, which is already not as good as Anna’s.

Anne and Cathy have good strategies…but they didn’t consider the fact that they are the weakest queens from a physical point of view. So they might get a perfect position to attack, but as soon as one raises the gun, the other has serious troubles moving them along by herself so they are basically sitting ducks. At one point one of their paddles falls into the lake and they spend a long time trying to recover it and getting absolutely soaked by the others in the meanwhile. At the end a truce is called and the others help them, but, spoiler alert, they have no chance to win.

And Catherine and Kat…let’s just say that the others didn’t consider that they were putting together two of the most competitive queens (the other teams have each a ‘chill’ member with Cathy and Anna) and the physically strongest ones besides Anna. So whoever has the gun, the other doesn’t have much trouble moving the boat around by herself. And because they didn’t come to play but to win, they use their water bottles to refill their gun. Might end up dehydrated, but such is the price of victory.


	5. Parrward Headcanon

Kat is the only one who can take away Cathy’s book while she is reading without fear of losing a limb. To be fair, the other queens know better and Anne learnt her lesson the first (and last) time she tried it. But it has less to do with them dating and more with the fact that Kat is observant and realized her girlfriend has different reading/working moods and figured out how to deal with them.

If Cathy is at her desk, she is fully in work mode. Do not interrupt unless necessary. Don’t stand there waiting for her to acknowledge your presence because 1) you’ll wait for a long time 2) it annoys her. You can sit on the bed and wait until she is at a point she feels comfortable stopping.

If Cathy is reading on her bed, it’s either light reading for work or leisure reading. You can safely approach her and sit next to her (or on the desk chair). She’ll probably pause her reading very quickly to interact with you.

If Cathy is at the kitchen table or on the living room table, it means she has to work but couldn’t do it in her room for whatever reason so she is trying to change environment hoping it will help. She is likely already frustrated and stressed. Going to a shared space to work is her last resort. Do not interact unless absolutely necessary.

If she is reading on the couch or in an armchair in the living room, it’s always leisure reading. She is in the mood for company and won’t mind being interrupted. It’s the only situation Kat would ever dare to try and take her book.

It’s in such an occasion that Cathy realized she was in love with Kat.

> Kat plucked the book from Cathy’s hands and plopped in her lap. A quick kiss turned into making out and Cathy began to lean Kat back on the couch.
> 
> “Wait!”
> 
> Cathy immediately stopped as any normal person would, and even more knowing about Kat’s past.
> 
> “I need a bookmark or you’ll lose the place,”
> 
> When Cathy looked to see that the book was closed in Kat’s hand, but her index was stuck inside, holding the place, it hit her. Kat was her perfect woman and she was in love with her.


	6. Be Ready to Be Shipped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a silly little thing. AU with no reincarnation where Anne has an online following, up to you why.  
> Parrward with mentions of Araleyn and Clevemour.

‘Hi people! Hope you’re all keeping safe and sane! I’ve got a lot of messages asking if I’m going to keep up with content now that we are in lockdown and the answer is...YES! Of course! We moved all the equipment home so I can keep doing my thing-’

‘We.’ a voice scoffs. ‘Don’t remember you doing much.’

‘You know, since I’ll be working and filming from home, you’ll probably see a lot of them so...give me a thumb up if you want to meet my family.’

Thumbs up starts to roll in.

‘This is Anna,’ she gives a grin and a nod to the camera. ‘She was, I’ll admit, the one who moved most of my stuff here. She is my cousin’s girlfriend and my cousin’s best friend...different cousins!’

Another woman joins them. ‘And this is Jane, Anna’s girlfriend and cousin number two.’

Jane gives a little wave. ‘I would normally be offended, but she is my favourite cousin too.’

Anne moves through the house. ‘You already know her, but here is Catalina, my other half.’

‘Better half.’ She corrects her.

‘I...know better than to argue. Where are your mini-mes?’ Anne switches to the front camera for a second to inform her viewers. ‘Catalina is the mum friend.’

‘Do you think I know where they are at all times?’ Catalina is back on screen, staring expectantly at Anne. When no answer comes, she sighs. ‘Try one of their rooms.’

‘See, she does know where they are at all times.’ Anne comments as she goes up the stairs, now filming herself. ‘Let's go meeting Katherine, my cousin, and Catherine, her girlfriend.’ She snickers to herself – she always enjoys the confusion that without fail follows that statement – before letting out a cooing sound. She switches to the rear camera. ‘Look at these cute little beans.’

The two girls are sitting on the bed. One, with long hair with pink tips, has her back against the wall. Sitting between her legs is the other girl, leaning against her chest and holding a book and a pencil in her hands.

‘The pink little bean is Katherine, with a K, aka Kat aka cousin number one.’ The girl gives a cheery wave before returning her arm to its original position, around her girlfriend’s waist, and leaning her chin on her shoulder. ‘The blue little bean-’

‘I’m not little.’ The girl in the blue hoodie grumbles, interrupting her.

‘Aww, don’t you want to be a little bean with me?’

Anne is not surprised to see the comments exploding. Kat’s pout is a lethal weapon.

‘Just for you.’ And unsurprising her girlfriend caves in 2 seconds, even if she can’t even see it as they are both facing forward.

‘The _whipped_ blue bean,’ Anne goes on, ignoring the glare she is getting. ‘is Catherine, with a C, Cathy. And in case you couldn’t tell from the fact that they are holed up here doing crosswords...they are absolute nerds.’

‘You’re just bitter we beat you and Lina last Trivia night.’ Kat sticks out her tongue.

‘Come on, who the hell knows off the top of their head who the wife of Henry V was??’ Anne complains.

‘My girl, that’s who.’ Cathy tilts up her face and kisses Kat’s jaw.

‘Uh oh.’

‘What?’

Anne looks between her phone and the couple. ‘I hope you’re ready to be shipped.’

‘Lunch is ready.’ Jane announces. ‘Also shipped where? We’re in lockdown, we are not even supposed to leave the house!’


	7. Headcanons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Got an ask on tumblr asking for headcanons, but I don't have many fixed ones, as they change depending on which AU I’m thinking about so this is what I could offer.
> 
> One of my latest ideas had been: what if instead of living together, the queens are just working together, but because of Covid-19 restrictions and rules the only way for them to continue doing the show is to form a bubble?
> 
> Didn’t really go far and couldn’t come up with a proper story, but here are some thoughts/headcanons. No ships.

The queens are already close, working long hours day in and day out side by side will do that, but when they move in together, they find out new things about each other.

Like the fact that Catalina is a minimalist. People often think that because she is ‘the paragon of royalty’, coming from a royal family to be part of another one, then becoming a queen and being one for 24 years, she is used to the finest things in life, and lots of them. While she does have high standards, she very much values quality over quantity. She knows what she likes, and most importantly, what she needs, and she’ll get that and nothing more. Whether it’s clothes or objects or anything else, she will rarely bother with something that it’s superfluous and will only clutter her world (unless it has sentimental value, then it’s another matter). When she moves in, she has like half of the baggage the others have. 

Anne loves plants and has a knack for gardening. She jokes that she has not only green sleeves, but also green thumbs. She moves in bringing all her potted plants and she places them all around the house depending on the sun exposure, humidity and general environment they require. She takes over the back garden, the conservatory and the allotment that came with the house. She is one of the main supporters of their move together to be permanent even after restrictions ease...now that she got a taste of proper gardening in proper spaces, she doesn’t want to go back to have to make a jungle out of a flat.

Jane’s memory is phenomenal. She always knows which fan gave her which gift, what they told her last time they interacted on social media or at stage door, who runs which account. If a queen mentions something in passing once, she will remember it months later. She is easily the best at giving gifts. Anne complaining that she can’t properly grow whatever plant in her flat? One year later, Jane gets the seeds for her to plant in the garden. Anna mentioning that a recipe would actually call for another vegetable, which however isn’t in season and it’s not that easy to find in England? Jane will wait until it is season and scour through farmers markets until she finds it. But it’s also smaller things. Like Kat muttering aloud, making a comment to herself while looking at the tips of her hair, that she needs to remember to buy hair dye. Next time Jane is out shopping, she will get it, even if it’s not on the shopping list and even if Kat herself has forgotten about it. Groceries with Jane always blows the others’ minds, because she will stop them from getting something saying that she has seen an ad from another supermarket that has the same product for 30p less or a bigger pack for the same price. She is always right. Pretty much, if Jane sees or hears something once, she will remember it.

Anna loves cooking (and baking). If she is sad, she cooks. If she is happy, she cooks. If she is stressed, she cooks. If she needs to relax, she cooks. If she needs to think something over, if she needs to distract herself, if she wants to celebrate, if...anything, Anna’s solution is cooking. And having five other people to cook for is absolute heaven for her. Before moving in together she would bring stuff to the theatre, but there were a lot of limitations. Had to be already in single portions, not needing to be kept in the fridge or heated up, not messy. But now...now she has free rein. And she is having the time of her life (and the others are always up for trying anything she comes up with). She teams up with Anne to create a herbs garden so that she has them fresh, and when the move becomes permanent, they decide together which vegetables to grow in the allotment. She asks Jane advice when cooking because while she can remember that Kat doesn’t like the texture of beans but doesn’t mind the taste and will accommodate to that, Jane will remember that Cathy mentioned once how she prefers red peppers over yellow ones, with the green ones being her least favourite.

If there is a problem at the house, anything to fix...the first port of call is Kat. From fixing a light flickering by sorting out the faulty wiring with just screwdrivers and scissors to replacing the door seal of the washing machine, from leaky faucets to doors not closing properly or getting stuck, or even toilet not flushing properly, chances are that Kat will know how to fix it or will be able to figure it out how. It had started the first times she had problems at her flat: she had gone online to see 1) if it was actually a problem and not something very simple to fix (like when she had a power outage and found out that it was just a circuit overload and all she had to do was unplug stuff and flip the switches back on) and 2) how she could explain what was wrong when calling someone to fix it and what to expect from them in terms of time, costs, etc. Most of the time she found tutorials and explanations step-by-step on how to fix it...so she started to try to do it herself. And she found out she is quite good at it, and she likes it too, both the fixing part and the learning how things work. And if it meant avoiding having to let random men in her flat...she was all for it. The next step was trying her hand at DIY since she likes manual work but thankfully stuff does not break all the time. Her biggest project to date is a small greenhouse and an irrigation system for Anne.

Cleaning is for Cathy similar to what cooking is for Anna. If she is stressed, worried, upset...she cleans. If she needs to clear her mind, she cleans. If she is stuck on something, she cleans. Her room is spotless most of the time. But also, it’s just one room, so it doesn’t take long for her to expand her reach. Nobody complains about it. They also learn that there are different levels to her cleaning sprees. Dusting and wiping surfaces are routine. Vacuuming and washing the floors are normal. If she is cleaning the windows, there are reasons to start to get worried. If she has her head in the oven, proceed with caution: scrubbing forcefully at its walls is an outlet for her anger, but if interrupted, it might be directed at you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave in the comments which queen you related the most to like [ PikaPals16 ](/users/PikaPals16/)did  
> I'm definitely curious now.


	8. Oblivious!Queens - Parrward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I love oblivious!Parrward (one or even both), but what if for once the oblivious ones were the other queens?

Imgine Anne giving a long-winded and convoluted speech about Kat putting herself back on the market that leaves Kat absolutely stumped. So she tries to make it clearer. Not to say that one needs to be in a relationship to be happy, and she knows that Kat has all the reasons to be wary and she will support her no matter what, of course, but it has been years since they came back, maybe she should at least give it a try?

Kat is not any less confused. ‘What about Cathy?’ She asks after realising she was clearly failing to grasp what Anne was trying to tell her.

All five women automatically turn to look at the sixth queen, who is waiting for their order at the counter.

‘What about her?’

‘I have Cathy.’

Anne lets out an endeared sigh. ‘And you have me. And Lina. And Anna. And Jane.’ The queens in question all nods. ‘We all love you to death, you know that, but-’

‘No, I mean, I’m dating Cathy.’

‘You’re dating what?’

‘Whom.’ Kat corrects her cousin. ‘And Cathy. You know? Curly hair, predilection for blue-’

‘Since when?’ Anne interrupts her.

‘Since–’ Kat’s answer is cut short as she sees the genuine surprise, shock for some, on her fellow queens’ face. ‘We live together.’ She points out, incredulity in her voice.

‘As housemates!’ Anne argues.

‘As girlfriends!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Partially inspired by how most people learn that I live with a guy and immediately assume we’re dating which never happened with previous, female, flatmates (who would have had more chances anyway).


	9. Pirate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost 3000 words of a half-developed AU idea vaguely inspired by Pirates of Caribbean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Limited amount of Parrward (especially for an idea that started because of them)
> 
> You know when you have some scenes clear in your mind and then the inspiration/motivation to write the overall connecting story fizzles out? Yeah. That is what happened with this one. But I didn't want to leave it languishing forever in my drafts folder so here it is.

Catalina is the de facto governor of a small island. In theory her husband, Henry, is the governor, but he’s never there, preferring the mainland and doing his own things. Leaving Catalina in charge gets her out of his way while keeping up the façade of him being a respectable married man (if you ignore all the mistresses he has, but that’s another matter).

Catalina doesn’t particularly mind. She has no lost feelings for him and plenty of stuff to keep her busy. Governor’s businesses. Raising her goddaughter. Pirates infesting the surrounding waters.

Catherine ‘Cathy’ Parr is Catalina’s goddaughter. After her mother died, Catalina took her in and she has been with her since she was a child. When Catalina is sent to her ‘glorified’ exile on the island, she goes with her.

During the trip, Cathy sees something, or better someone, in the sea and convinces the crew to rescue them. It’s a young girl, some years younger than Cathy, Catalina reckons. She is a weak, thin, frail slip of a girl. Whether from the physical trauma (she has a deep gash on her head, blood caking her hairline) or from the psychological one of barely surviving a shipwreck, the girl can’t remember how long she has been lost at sea or pretty much anything else, except that her name is Katherine.

Catalina takes her under her wing too, albeit not officially. Not like she can adopt her without her husband’s agreement. And he was already not happy about her taking in Cathy. But what she can do is keep an eye on her and make sure she does not lack for anything.

Whether because of the long trip to their new home, being the only children on board, or just them clicking with each other, Cathy and Katherine, who most call Kat, quickly become inseparable. And as they grow up, things don’t change, making Catalina’s promise to herself to keep an eye on Kat quite easy.

Kat apprentices as a carpenter. Any problem at the residence, Kat is called, and she always brings with her small trinkets she made herself to gift them to Cathy. Kat’s services are not necessarily cost-time effective. Mostly not time-effective, since she always ends up spending way more time than needed there. And Catalina insists on paying for the time rather than for the work, another manner of taking care of Kat in her own way. Also, along with books, Kat’s presence seems to be the only thing that makes Cathy happy and Catalina won’t deny her that. Life on the island is not exactly the pinnacle of excitement or social engagement or entertainment. Not that Cathy complains. If asked, she would say that she has all she needs.

Of course, Henry has to ruin everything. A letter arrives announcing that he has arranged Cathy’s marriage with one Thomas Seymour. The captain bringing the letter is in charge of taking Cathy back to the mainland.

There is nothing anyone can do. Not Catalina – if she wants to avoid diplomatic incident...and raising her husband’s ire – not Cathy, and certainly not Kat. They have to say their goodbyes. Cathy makes Catalina and Katherine promise that they will take care of each other. Then Catalina leaves them so they can have some few last precious moments alone.

Fast forwards to days later, the ship that is taking Cathy to her doom, I mean, wedding, is attacked by pirates. Everyone is killed except Cathy, who is taken hostage.

Realising the ship that attacked them is the Greensleeves, Cathy thinks it’s on purpose. The captain has a beef with her godmother. But then she realises it’s just that a young woman, the only woman on board of a government’s ship, would make a good hostage regardless because it’s clearly someone important and probably worth quite a bit if a ransom is demanded.

‘And who do we have here?’ A woman circles around her.

‘You might want to read this, captain.’ Another, taller, woman hands her a letter.

While she reads it, Cathy has time to look at her. Had to admit, not how she imagined the famed pirate Anne Boleyn, scourge of the seven seas, and pain in Catalina’s backside as well as pretty much any navy.

‘Catherine Parr, uh?’ The pirate looks her up and down. ‘Let’s see how much old Lina is willing to pay for you.’

Cathy scowls at her.

‘Or would you prefer your future husband?’

‘No!’ She can’t stop herself.

‘Thought so.’ Anne nods to herself. ‘Not that I blame you. Seymour is a scumbag.’

‘Ehi!’

‘Not you, Jane. Not most of the time, at least.’ She sends a grin towards a woman standing one step behind her.

When everything is said and done, Cathy considers herself lucky. She might go back home. Delaying her marriage, at least. See Kat and Catalina again. Despite them being pirates, she feels more comfortable on their ship than the one sent by Henry, surrounded by guards.

All is nice and well, until a wave has the ship rolling quite violently. Cathy loses her balance and stumbles forward, a golden A on a necklace slipping out from under her dress and now dangling. Before she knows it, Boleyn has the pendant tight in her grip, pulling Cathy along towards her, almost choking her.

‘Where did you get this?’ she demands with a growl.

Cathy stands corrected. She can now see why Anne inspires such a terror.

‘Take it off.’

‘No!’ Not the smartest thing, but Cathy is not going to give it up without a fight.

‘You either take it off yourself or I do it for you, and I’ll take your head off with it too.’

‘Anne.’ The woman who had been called Jane tries to put a hand on her shoulder, but it’s shrugged off.

Cathy feels someone grabbing her from behind. She tries to wriggle away, but she can’t, the hold too strong. Then she feels a hand on the back of her neck, and suddenly the comforting, familiar, weight of the pendant is gone.

Anne lunges to catch the necklace before it hits the deck. Cathy instinctively takes a step back. Well, she tries, only manages to stumble back into the pirate behind her, still holding her.

‘I’m going to ask you again.’ Anne seems to struggle to pull her eyes off the necklace clutched in her hand. ‘Where did you get it?’

‘You better answer her.’ The voice behind her sounds honest, no malice or threat. Almost sound worried about what Anne would do if denied.

‘She gave it to me!’ Cathy blurts out before biting her lip. She might be terrified, but she doesn’t want to say more. Like how Kat had given it to her, asking her to put it on and never take it off to remind her by. How Cathy had argued that she wouldn’t need a physical object, she would be thinking about her every day of her life until she dies regardless. How Cathy had tried to give it back, saying that she didn’t want to take away the most precious thing she had. And how Kat had replied that it was the second most precious…and both of them would leave that day. She would be missing the necklace just like she would miss her heart, that Cathy was taking with her on the ship.

‘Take me to her.’

‘No.’ Cathy doesn’t know where she is getting the courage to stand up to the pirate captain.

‘Take me to her and I promise I’ll let you go. I won’t even ask a ransom. I swear.’

‘As if I’d trust a pirate’s word.’ Cathy spits out.

‘Fine.’ Anne growls with a scowl. ‘Then I will just go back there myself.’

‘But don’t you want to see her again?’ The person behind Cathy speaks up again, acting as the voice of reason of the situation. ‘She’ll find her anyway. She won’t rest until she does. Or she’ll die trying.’

Cathy tenses up. Just the thought of the pirates around Kat makes her terrified and furious at the same time.

‘Anna, get her out of my sight.’

‘She won’t hurt her. If that’s what you’re worried about.’ Said pirate makes one last attempt.

Cathy relents. Not that she has much choice. Or well, she does. But when the options are 1) going back with them 2) she is killed and they go back without her 3) she is delivered to Seymour and they go back without her...is that really a choice?

So they sail back to the island, but then it’s just a small boat rowed to the shore by Jane and Anna, with only Cathy and Anne, as passengers on board.

‘If this is a trap…’ Anne trails off, the threat clear even if not spelled out, as she looks around the workshop.

‘How would she even-’Anna tries to reason with her captain, as usual.

‘Let her go and I’ll consider not blowing your head up.’

Not the first words Cathy expected to hear from Kat if she ever saw her again, to be honest. The pirates seem taken by surprise too. Jane is only loosely holding her arm, and nobody has their weapons out.

‘Do it.’ Anne orders.

As soon as she is released, Cathy hurries to Kat’s side and Kat immediately wraps an arm around her, holding her close. She leans her head against hers, trying to get as much physical contact as possible, but she keeps her eyes and her pistol trained on the pirates.

‘Did they hurt you?’

Cathy shakes her head. She just had some bruises around her neck from Anne’s grabbing the necklace and pulling her along with it, but they faded away and there is no trace of them now. And they actually treated her quite well. She might have even enjoyed the trip if she had not been terrified and worried.

‘What do you want from her?’ Kat speaks again.

‘She had something that didn’t belong to her.’ Anne opens her hand, the necklace falling and dangling down.

‘Give it back!’ Kat growls, lunging.

Anne takes a step back, before calmly wrapping the chain of the necklace around her wrist and tucking the pendant into her sleeve. ‘And why should I?’ She asks, impish smirk making it clear she doesn’t feel threatened.

‘Because it’s mine, and I gave it to her!’

‘Yours?’ Anne’s attitude immediately changes. But before she can say anything- ‘What’s going on?’

This time the pirates aren’t taken by surprise. They all aim their weapons toward the new arrival.

‘Boleyn?’

‘Catalina.’

‘Cathy??’

‘Madrina.’

‘Katherine?’

‘Are you just listing all the presents? Because this is Jane and this is Anna.’ Anne chimes in, drawing back to herself Catalina’s attention…and pistol.

‘Give me one good reason why I should not shoot you on the spot.’

‘Because you’re outnumbered?’

‘She is not.’ Cathy now has a small pistol too, given by Kat, the pirates can only assume, since they are sure she had none before.

‘Parley?’ Anne breaks the silent standoff.

The other two pirates start quickly and softly talking to Anne.

‘What’s that?’ Cathy asks.

‘Pirate code.’

‘Temporary truce.’ Kat answers without hesitation at the same time as Catalina.

Cathy turns to her, surprised. ‘You know pirate code?’

‘I...don’t?’ Kat is clearly second-guessing herself. ‘I don’t think so? I just…knew it? Don't ask me why.’

‘Parley granted?’ Anne’s question reminds them of the situation.

Catalina looks at the pirates. Then at her girls. Then at Anne again. ‘Pull one of your usual dirty tricks and-’

‘Where is the trust?’ Anne brings the hand not holding the weapon to her chest. ‘I’m a pirate of my word.’

‘As if I’d ever trust a pirate’s word.’

The pirate captain looks between Catalina and Cathy. ‘That’s where you learned it?’

‘Guns away at 3?’ Anna tries to get them back on track.

They all nod warily before slowly and reluctantly lowering their weapons.

‘To what we owe the displeasure of your visit?’

‘Hurting my feelings, Lina.’ Anne quips.

‘Don’t call me that.’ Catalina snarls. ‘And answer the question.”

Anne gets serious. ‘This is what brings me here.’ She once again shows the necklace.

‘Why do you have it?’ Catalina looks between it, Anne and Katherine.

‘She took it from me.’ Cathy spits out, still upset about it.

‘You gave it to her?’ Catalina turns surprised towards Katherine. She knows how important it is to her. ‘But that’s the only thing-’ she stops. It suddenly makes sense. Kat giving Cathy the most precious and important thing she owned…the girl would give her goddaughter the world if she could.

‘Where did you get it?’ Anne turns to Kat.

‘I always had it.’ The younger girl answers reluctantly. There is no hurting doing that, right? ‘And I would appreciate having it back.’ She holds her hand out.

‘Spunky.’ Anne nods, appreciative. ‘But not yet.’

Kat huffs. ‘What?’ She grinds out.

‘Do you know what this is?’ Anne fishes out from her shirt another similar necklace, but with a K instead of an A.

The girl shakes her head.

‘I had it made because you loved mine. So I commissioned one for you. But you still insisted on wearing mine so I kept yours.’

‘I don’t understand what you’re saying.’

‘The K is for Kitty.’ Anne carries on.

‘Nobody called me Kitty since-’ Kat stops in her tracks as her brain catches up with what her mouth is saying. She had honestly forgot about anyone ever using that nickname.

‘Since you used to throw tantrums about losing at cards.’

‘Jane always cheats!’ Again, Kat surprises herself as she replies without thinking.

‘I do not!’

Anne, Anna and even Cathy, look at Jane in disbelief. She had seen her playing at the tavern at the only stop they had on shore while on their way back to the island, cleaning out the locals because they needed funds...

‘Okay, maybe I do now, but not at the time!’ Jane amends.

‘I don’t understand.’ Kat repeats, her voice wobbling.

Anne explains how they grew up together, inseparable cousins until the moment their family’s ship they had been on had been attacked. In the chaos they had lost sight of the younger cousin and when they got rescued, all except Kat, they all thought that she had died in the shipwreck.

Anne, consumed by desire of vengeance, had joined a crew hoping to find out which pirate was responsible for the attack. Only to find out that it had not been pirates but government masquerading as pirates, hoping to get their families’ riches in a quicker and easier way. So Anne had decided to harass, rob and destroy government ships as revenge. Jane had joined her soon after, a life on the sea better than the prospect of a lifetime serving men at home. Anne had met Anna in her first crew and when Anne left to form her own, some of them, including Anna, Maggie and Joan, had joined her. They are the only ones, besides Jane, to know why Anne had chosen the pirate life. 

‘And then we met your girl and I saw the necklace and here we are.’ Anne concludes her tale.

‘Met.’ Cathy snorts.

‘Not mine.’ Kat comments dolefully at the same time.

‘Engaged to Seymour, right?’ Anne turns to Catalina. ‘I expected better.’

‘Not my choice. Henry arranged it. Can’t refuse without a diplomatic incident. And enraging him. The Seymour family is a powerful one and I know that he will say he found the best for Cathy, and who knows what he’d do, whom he’d choose, just to spite me, if I were to refuse.’

‘What if you could do better?’

‘What do you mean?’ Catalina looks at the pirate captain, who appears deep in thought.

‘It would be reasonable to break off the engagement if a better opportunity arises, right? Even for… Henry?’ she spats out the name.

‘In theory. But in practice? Hard to find better.’ Catalina sighs. She had thought about it, of course. ‘I mean, better name. I’m sure there are lots of better people than Thomas Seymour.’

‘Definitely.’ Jane confirms.

‘What about marrying into the Howard family?’

‘Howard? Like _those_ Howards?’ Catalina asks in confirmation. They are even more powerful and rich than the Seymour.

‘As a captain I can marry you off tomorrow.’

‘What?’ The girls had been silently resigned. Cathy knew she had no voice or choice in her marriage, and Kat knew she could not stop it. All they could do was enjoying their time together before the inevitable separation.

‘You’re a Howard, Katherine.’ Anne tells her. ‘We,’ she gestures to herself and Jane, ‘might have been disowned by the Boleyn and Seymour families, but not you.’ She adds after a bit. ‘Mostly because we thought you were dead, but you know, not important right now.’

‘Seymour?’

Jane waves at Cathy. ‘Trust me, dodging a bullet with my brother.’

Kat and Cathy get married, and once Catalina’s retire as governor, they take over albeit always unofficially. Central government can’t be bothered with that little island almost lost in the sea as long as it doesn’t cause problems.

Anne and Jane are torn because on one side they want to be with Kat after finding her again, but they also took a liking to life on the sea, so Catalina pardons Anne and her crew in exchange for them working for her, patrolling the waters around the island and keeping the ships carrying and trading goods safe from pirates...and anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I was going full fantasy with gay marriage being accepted and recognized, pirates getting pardoned, women governing islands and ship captains marrying people (looked it up, they mostly can’t unless already invested/ordained with power to do so).


End file.
